The Marshal Takes a Bride. Renee Ryan

for effect, the object of their discussion marched into the room, arms wrapped around her waist. Her glare pinned Trey in his chair.

      Well, now. If that’s the way she wanted to play it. His earlier feelings of shame at sparring with this woman instantly disappeared. Perhaps it was time to put Miss Rigid-Rule-Setter on the defensive for a change.

      With deliberate slowness, he took in her appearance, concentrating on the streaks of dirt on her cheek, the smudges on her once-crisp white blouse.

      So Molly had fought to the end.

      Good girl.

      As he linked his gaze with Katherine’s again, he noted the sudden flicker of uncertainty flashing in her eyes before she covered it with her usual prissy determination.

      Interesting.

      She squared her shoulders. “I’d like that word with you, Marshal Scott. Now.”

      Trey didn’t like her attitude, nor was he overly fond of the riot of emotion spinning in his gut. “I’m not in the mood for a discussion.”

      “Perfect, because I plan to do all the talking.”

      Marc rose and slapped Trey on the knee. “Go get her, Beelzebub’s cousin.”

      Chapter Three

      By the time Marc left the study, Katherine’s frustration threatened to steal the remaining scraps of her composure. Trey Scott, with his challenging stare and unyielding presence, didn’t help matters. He looked too masculine, too intimidating for someone who had just championed a five-year-old over a bath.

      With the arrogance only a lawman could pull off, he lifted a single eyebrow, relaxed back into his chair then propped a foot on his knee. “So talk.”

      His attitude made Katherine forget all the reasons why this big, hard man alarmed her. “Marshal Scott, you are a disreputable, ill-mannered disturber of the peace.”

      There. Very pleasant under the circumstances.

      He returned his foot to the floor, then leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “Don’t hold back, Miss Taylor. Tell me how you really feel.”

      His gray eyes regarded her without a sliver of amusement, while the rich Southern drawl rumbled across her tight nerves.

      “Oh, I’ve only just begun,” she said, allowing her growing resentment to take hold. She found it much easier to deal with the large, dangerous lawman when she thought of him as nothing more than a disruptive troublemaker.

      Unraveling his hulking frame from the chair, he rose and began striding toward her. “By all means, go ahead and give it to me.”

      Guard what has been entrusted to your care.…

      The Scripture from 1 Timothy gave her the courage to hold her ground as he approached. For Molly’s sake, she had to stand firm. “Stay away from my sister.”

      Thankfully, her words stopped his pursuit, and two matching black brows slammed together. “Why? What is it you have against me?”

      Katherine ignored the twist of unease in her stomach and concentrated on an image of Molly’s tearstained cheeks. “Must you ask after your behavior this afternoon?”

      “I didn’t work alone out there.” He pulled his lips into a sarcastic grin. “Or don’t you remember that part?”

      Swamped with regret over her own role in Molly’s distress, Katherine slapped her hands onto her hips. “Molly has been through too much trauma already. When our mother became ill, instead of contacting me, she sent the poor child to live with her father in a remote mining camp. From all accounts, he did his best, but he still died in an accident, which left Molly all alone.”

      A wave of regret pressed inside her chest. Katherine hadn’t even known of Molly’s existence until the letter from the mine’s foreman had arrived at Charity House. Why her mother hadn’t told her about her baby sister was a mystery that would never be solved. And by the time Katherine had rescued Molly from the mining camp, the little girl had been on her own for two weeks.

      After all her losses, will the child ever believe I’m here to stay?

      Katherine shoved the worry aside. If Marshal Scott kept undermining her efforts, it would only destroy the fragile bond she had with Molly. “I don’t want my sister hurt further.”

      Genuine shock rippled across his features. “You think I’d intentionally harm that child?”

      Surprised by his vehemence, Katherine shook her head. “Not intentionally, no. But singling her out from the rest of the children will only make her feel different from the group.”

      “Don’t you think you’re being a bit overprotective?” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Molly is too timid, too closed off from the others for a normal five-year-old. The child needs shaking up.”

      Katherine didn’t like how he summed up her sister’s problem so accurately, nor did she trust the look of genuine distress she saw in his eyes. Finding common ground with this man, especially where her sister was concerned, brought matters to a dangerously personal level. And that simply would not do.

      She had to remember he was her adversary. “And you’re the man to do the shaking up, is that it?”

      He lifted a shoulder. “Why not me?”

      Oh, she could give him several reasons, but she focused on the main one. “You treat her like a toy you can play with whenever the mood strikes, and then off you go, back to your…marshaling.”

      “You mean off I go, pursuing men who kill innocent women and children.”

      And therein lay the real issue between them. Trey Scott’s drive for vengeance was in direct conflict with Katherine’s need to forgive, even—no, especially—the unforgivable.

      “Your actions send the wrong message,” she said. “They teach her that it’s acceptable to trust in her own power instead of relying on God’s.”

      He gave her a mutinous expression. “Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad lesson.”

      “I don’t want her to think revenge is the answer. Because of her circumstances, it would be too easy for her to hate. I want her to learn God’s healing power of forgiveness.” Katherine knew better than most just how hard that lesson was to learn, but she also knew the peace that came with offering absolution where it wasn’t deserved.

      “There is no forgiveness for senseless murder and violence,” he said. His expression hardened as he spoke, but not before Katherine caught a glimpse of real pain just below the surface.

      In that moment, she realized he would never understand her point, not with his own grief still so raw. Overwhelmed with emotion and consumed with compassion for his terrible loss, Katherine reached out and touched his arm. “What happened to your wife was horrendous. If only you could learn to let God—”

      He jerked away from her and strode to the window. “This isn’t about me.”

      “Yes, it is. At least, partly.”

      He paced to the desk on the opposite end of the room but didn’t meet her gaze. “How do you figure that?”

      “Ever since Marc married Laney, you’ve been coming around here a lot.” She lifted her chin at him. “Of course, you would. In fact, I think you should. You’re Marc’s brother-in-law. Nevertheless, I won’t stand by and watch you give my sister the wrong message every time you go after another outlaw for your own personal reasons.”

      He clenched his hand into a fist. “You know nothing about what drives me.”

      “Oh, but I do.”

      He locked his gaze with hers and studied her with his hawklike eyes. The day-old growth of stubble on his jaw added a sinister look to his already hardened expression.

      Katherine